Method of absorption



July 12, 19324 J. A. CAMPBELL METHOD OF ABSORPTION Original Filed July 19, 1926 d a .lL/a, E 4 www. L i M [2J a o 2 f. m m m n a v ,1 v /I 6 C m n y l l w h v i 2 n 4 3 .d I Z Awuwwmmnm nari vJ Patented July 12, 1932 unirse rss Parary Mirriron or ABsoRPTIoN originari appncauonfnea July 19, ieee, serial No'. 123,417. Divided ananas appiicanon sied February afi,

1930. Serial No. 430,642L- This invention relates in general to methods for bringing liquids and gases or vapors into intimate contact, for instance for-the purpose of absorbing gas or vapor in liquid as carried out in absorption systems which operate tobring about the absorption of liquid volatile petroleum vapors in comparatively heavy and stable absorption oil. The present application, dealing with a method of absorption, is a division of my copending application on absorbers, SerxNo. 123,417, filed July 19, 1926, said application having matured into Patent No. 1,814,125 fon July, 14, 1931, in which the claims are drawn tothe structural features of an apparatus for 'carrying out this method. rEhe method comprising the subject matter of my present application is'also similar in nature to the method described in my copending applica# 2o tion `on method of absorption, Ser. No. 240,742, filed December 17, 1927, certain of the claims in the present application covers ing broadly the method disclosed in Ser. No. 240,742. L The object of the hereinafter described method, in bringing about intimate admiX- ture and gas -or vapor, maybe to absorb condensible vapors from the gases, to load j' a gas or vapor with substances which they 3a pick up from the liquid by reason of intimate Contact therewith, or for various other pur-` poses. lierefore, although l term the present method as one of absorption, and willdescribe it as such since its principle use will be understood that the invention is not thereby to be considered as limited to such use. Y

The present application is in its general subject matter, similarV to that of a patent on method of absorption, No. 1,7 86,070 issued to me on November 19, 1929. The method described in this patent isqonein which gases or vapors are treated wi `h liquid by building up and maintaining the liquid in a body of.l froth, both the liquid and gas being introduced in intimate contact at the base of the froth body so as to build it up from its lower part, and'continuously'breakino' the froth at zsuitsupper surface to liberate the gas or vai in most instances be for this purpose, it will 'together through restrictions, ,incontradis- .the constituents thereof" separated.'

pors and separate the liquid. Although sim-` f ilar to this method yin certain of its aspects,`

the present invention has to do more part icu.

larly With-the ymethod of bringing the gases or Avapors into direct and intimate contact 55 with the liquid. 4. -f

In certain of my previous types-of absorbers, for instance, lthe type illustrated in the. above mentioned Patent No;l 1,7 36,070, andy in Patent No. 1,654,7 issued to me January 8, 1928, on absorber, contacting of the liquid and gas Vhas been brought about byr theuse of a. series of perforated floors', each floor being in the form of a single perforated, plate and the oil on a given floor-being deliveredfto 65 it froinlthe ioor'next above.' Gas is introduced beneath the perforated plates and is caused to bubble up through the liquid 4,there- Y on. 11n absorption apparatus of this type, it is found that a portion of the liquid does not come directly into intimate contact with the gas since there necessarily is an appreciable distancebetween adjacent plate korifices and the streams of bubbles passing lupwardly from these orifices are accordingly somewhat 'I5v widely spaced apart, with the result'that the liquid between these streams is not immediately affected by the gas flow.' Y .Y -1 It is av purpose of 'the present inv'entionto provide a method of absorption whereby this difficulty-'is overcome by insuring intimate Contact between the -gas and practically all the liquid; Generally speaking, this is aco complished by forcing the liquid and gas tinction to the old method ofV merely passing the gasthrough restrictions into the body of liquid. rlhe liquid preferably is first built up into a body of froth, andfthis maybe done in substantially the rsaine method as V described in Patent No. 1,736,070; `that is,"-

kby introducing zboth liquid and gas in` inti mate` Contact at the base `ofl the-froth-bo'dy so as to continuously build up the frothfrom L f its lower` part. The froth th'eiiis'forced through a' suitable 'apertured medium, `preferably one or more perforated plates or' sim# ilar media, and `1;l'ie"r'fi' itjh after passing through the restrictions being broken 'up and Y lIt will be understood that any suitable ap- Yparatus may be employed for carrying out the present method, and that although I will hereinafter describe the method as carried out in oneform of apparatus, the invention is not necessarily limited to this particularr type. l p

The typical form of apparatus for carry ing out the present method may convenientl above.` Thegas is forced upwardly throughv ly comprise one or more floors in a* suitable ,shellV and consisting of two or more -vertically spaced andperforatedplates. Gas ocv cupies the vfull cross-section of the shelll below vthe lowermost plate and oil is admitted to thespacebetween'plates from the ioor next relativelyismall orifices inthe lower plate, its Vvelocity thereby being increased appreciably, Vand the: rapid flow of this gas into thebody. of oil or other liquid above theV lowermost plate whips the liquid into a froth consisting of innumerable voil film bubbles. These bubbles, thatis, vesicles of oil containing gas, .'arefcarried upwardly through the orifices in the super-imposed plate or platesY andv in passing through these orifices n the bubbles are broken up andthe gas within them brought intocontactwith the oil released from the films. lof the broken bubbles andlwithv any unfrothed oil, such unfrothed oilV being forced with the bubbles through the vupper plate orifices. f

Furthermore, the high velocity of the gas, by reasonl of being suddenly constricted in yits flow from the full and free cross-section of the shell tothe very limited aggregate areaof the orifices,has an atomiz'ing effect upon the' oil so the oil-film bubbles are more or VlessV illedwithja mist of the atomized 1 liquid, a'condition which is not conducive to .the absorption of any absorbable `vapors' which the gas may contain.

When the bubblesreach the surface of the f liquid above the Vuppermost plate, they burst f'* fand the gas frees itself from 'the oil and once K more occupies the full cross-section of the shell but at a point above the floor.

.Should more than one apertured plate be provided beneath theuppermost plate, the

-- action through the additional plate or platesy is practically the same as through the uppermost1plate,jthat-is, 'such plates function to contact with the broken films.

constrict the bubbles suddenly, breaking them up and bringing the gas into intimate Of course, as vthe bubbles are broken yup in passing through the` plateorifices, new bubbles are constantly 'being formed. vAfter passing Y through Ythe additional plates, however, the

bubble's do 'not reach thel surface of a free Vbody Tof liquid so as to burstVV naturally, until theyfhave passed through the uppermost-plate, in other Words, the space between plates -is ,practically filled with` froth; The Ieffect of using additional platesin eachiloor multiplies the benecial effects gained by thev use of one such plate but yincreases the pressure drop through the apparatus. fThis, alone, is the limiting-factor in their use.

The liquid passesinto overflow pans above the uppermost plate and thence drops to the :floorneXt below, and` it willl be Vseen thatV every bitof oil thus passed has previously been forced upwardly through gas-passing apertures and has therefore been in intimate u yIn the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary vertical central section Aof the lower part of a bubble tower; Fig. 2 isa horizontal section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1; and 1 Fig. 3 is a fragmentary enlarged detailed sectionV on line V3 3 of Fig. 2. Y

In the drawing the lower part ofacylindrical shellis shown attlO, and its bottom 11 is preferably made in the form illustrated in Fig.11, its similar top not being shown. At10a is an inlet for the rich gasY under pressure; and at'lOb an outlet' for the laden absorbing oil. Above the bottom there may be as many superimposed oors 13 as may be desired. In the structural form herein shown these ioors are supported by vertical supporting columns 15 extending .upwardly from the bottom of the shell. The details of t-hese supports need not here be gone into as they are the particular subject matter of the first mentioned co-pending application;

Each floor13, in accordance with my presyent inventiornis made up of ka series of ver# tica-lly spaced plates, two or more 1n number;

and in Figures 2 and 3 I have shown each floor consisting of an upper and a lower plate 20 `and 21, these plates preferably being circu- Y lar andV forming a froth chamber 22 between them; .It will be understood,rhowev'er, that this showing of only two plates to each Hoor is not limitative on the vinvention considered Vin its broader aspects. VIt may be mentioned that the `invention in its broader aspects is Ynot necessarily limited to the use of perforated plates as floors, and that other apertured means, such as screen and the'like may be used. .Chamber 22 is bound at its circular yedge by aperipheral wall 23 constructed of a Vchannel iron bent to circular shape. The several ioors being supported by columns 15,

they are not supported from the exterior shell 10, but means are provided for making a fluidl tight joint between the floors and the exterior shell. In general this fluid tight joint is provided by packing 24.- around the edge of each floor, with a follower ring .25 above the pack.-

I age, The .Subject matter of this packing is,

however, fully described in the rst1mentioned one of my co-pending applications and need not be described in detail here.

Y Above each floor, and in Figures 2 and 3 shown as resting on the upper surface of each floor, is a plurality of overflow pans 26, these pans being relatively dat and. shallow, arranged in symmetrical order about the center of the floor, and altogether covering a substantial proportion of the floor area. llt is not essential to the invention, however, that the pans rest directly on the uppermost plate of the floor; in fact, in certain situations, it is preferable that the pans be spaced vertically above the uppermost plate, as shown-inl Figure 4.- and as will be described at a latter point herein. Preferably the circular edges of these pans may be somewhat sharp, as indicated at27 a good way of making these sharp edges being merely to leave edge 27 raw as it comesv from a flanging machine or a shears. The bottom of each pan has a short depending nipple 28 that ext-'ends down through an opening in upper plate 2); this nipple extending at Vits lower end into a ver tical tube 29 thatpasses through thelower plate 2l and extends on down to the upper plate 20 of the next floor below. A sufficiently tight joint is made with the last mentioned plate 20 by having the lower end of tube 29 telescope around a nipple 30 mounted on that plate 20. Said upper plate 20 has an opening at 31 registering with each nipple 30; and directly below this opening and mountedon the corresponding lower plate 2l there isa spreader cone 32. This cone is preferably not mounted directly on platev 2l but has its lower edge spaced somewhat above plate 21 by using spacers 33 around the mounting bolts 34.

Both plates 2O and 2l are perforated sub stantially throughout their entire extent, asV is shown at 35, the lower plate 2l being' also' perforated under spreader cones 32. The upper plate may or may not be perforated under pans 26, the perforations under the pans resting on that plate being inoperative even if they are present. Consequently in Fig. 3 the part of plate 2O under pan 26` is shown unper- Y forated.

A fluid tight Vjoint is maintained between tube 29 and the lower plate 21 through which the tube passes by means of a packing l0 that is compressed between a flange'dl and the under face of plate 2l; andany leakage of gas or liquid from the chamber 22 between the plates is further prevented' a nipple ft2 that surroundsV nipple 28 and the upper end of tube 29 and is tightly clamped betweenthe two plates by Vboltslll, which bolts also hold pan 25 down tothe floor. The lower edge'of nipple 42 may'also be welded, as indicated at 44, to bottom plate 2l so as to prevent any fluid from flowing under the loweredge of Ythat nipple. Thenipples also perform thev function ofaccurately spacing the two plates apart at several spaced points, 'so as to keep` the two plates, throughout their extents, at uniform spacing. c

Although it will be readily recognized that the sizes of the plate perforations and their spacings will depend upon the character of liquid being treated and also upon the amount of gas that is being put through a tower,l may say that in a typical instance the perforations in the lower plate may be about g inch diameter, while those in the upper plate may' be somewhat larger or about it; inch diameter, the perforations of the bottom plate being on one-inch centers and of the top plate on 5%: inch centers. The 'top plate is thus given somewhat greaterl aggregate area of gas passing orifices than is the lower plate; but it must be remembered that in the operation of the device the pressure under the lower plate is also somewhat greaterthan the pressure under the upper plate. Gas is always fed in at the bottom of the absorber shell and passes successively up throughl the several superposed floors so that at each floor and at each perforated plate of each floor the gas drops somewhatin pressure.

For the purpose of illustrating introduc! tion of absorbing oil to an uppermost floor, a piece 100 is shown in Fig. 1 introducing the oil above the highest floor there shown. It will `be understood that as many superimposed floors as desired may be used.

ln operation the liquid, typically hydrocarbon oil, petroleum or petroleumvderivative, is fed in at the vtop of the tower and, spreading out over the uppermost door, is raised into a froth by the gas fed in at the bottom and passing up .through the perforated floors, un-v til the froth reaches the level of the pan edges. Here the froth, breaking up, liber-V ates liquid oil which flows overY the pan edges into the. pans and thence down through tubes 29`to the enclosed chamber 22 of the next i floor below', being spread out `by cones The fact that there are perforations 35 under the cones, with consequently passing radially outwardly under the cone edges, also assists in the spread of the liquid over lower plate 2l, so that the liquidis spread in a compartively thin film widely around each cone.

The gas passing up through the lower plate perforations picls up this thin film of oil,

forming bubbles, and chamber 22 becomes" filled with a frothy mass which is more or less completely 1n tho form of bubbles. This mass of froth is being constantly moved upv by thev I the upper plate depend,of course, upon the passfreely ythrough upper perforations. The r size and number of the perforations andthe amount of gas and oil being fed to the ab-v sorber, and the pressure present at the plates. But in practical operation the conditions are made such that the froth and any free oil is forcedup` through the upper perforations with some littlevelecity so that any liquid oil is more or less atomized and becomes intimately admixed with gas'that is forced out of any bubble or bubbles too large in size to passage through the upper perforations, therefore,'bursts the gas bubblesand re-forms bubbles of substantially uniform size. Thisv action bringsthe gas into intimate contact with any oil that has not been bubbled at the Vlower olate formin above the u a )er late a l 7 I f y uniform mass largely of froth. As a conse-` uence the 0Vas is broueht into ver uniform and intimateV contact with all the oilwhich is subsequently passed 'to the floor next below, with the result that absorption by the oil is very uniform and highly efficient. The bubbles burst naturally, or by contact with the `pan edges, when they reach the surface of the liquid and the gas is thus freed for action with the oil on the floor next above. v

The mass of frothV 'above any selected floor late is under a certain maintained ressure.

i of pressure,resulting ina substantial velocity of flow through the perforations. In practice, the pressureson the aoparatus may be maintained so that, as a typical instance, the drop in pressure at each perforated plate Vis about 0.2 pounds per sq. in. `lVhen thefroth' lisforced through the upper plateperforations, the action at and within the perforations is, to some extent at least,` to make the o froth bubbles of uniform size, and to form "i into bubbles any comparatively larger' mass of either gas or oil which might have escaped intimate frothing action at the lower perforated plate. Soon after formation of thefrotli abovethe upper plate perforations,

some'of the froth bubbles may burst, under the expansive action induced by the lowered pressure in the space above the upper plate.

`The action of breaking vthe frothbubbles as awhole may be looked upon as being 'brought about Vby two agencies. First, the

velocity of flow through the perforations` or thefred'uced pressure above the upper platel is leffective in causing the froth Vto break up;

. and second, the froth breaking pans cause, as 'previously described, the` kfroth to become broken up in flowing over their sharp edges. And itmay be stated that the pans not only serve tobreak up the froth at the rate at which it is formed, but also to separate the liquidl and gaseous lconstituents of the froth byconducting the liquidito the down pipes and per mitting the'liberated'v gases to escape to the plate next above.

action may result 'from the bubbles being permitted to burst naturally, and/or as a direct result of their flowing over" the sharp' It will be understood that this action is rei Although iin the broadv aspects'of my invention, the froth breaking,

peated at each4 floor, each floor receiving oilE f from the floor above and, in turn, being provided with overflow pans delivering the liquid oil into chamber 22 of the next licor below. Under the lowermost floor Ythe discharge tubes 29 will have vat their llower ends suitable liquid trap cups 50 to prevent .passageof gas upwardly through the lowermost tubes 29. Passage of gas up through the other tubes 29 is prevented by the fact that those tubes normally contain columns of oil.

Although, as I have shownjthe proportions and arrangements in the drawing, the several plates. 20 and 2l are closer together in each oor than `the spacings between the several floors, it will readily be recognized' that these proportional spacings are not a' limitation upon the invention. i Typically, in practical construction the-two plates of each Vfloor will be closertogether than adjacentl floorsg'and Y typically the plates ofeach `floor yare made into a structural unit. V.But the structure and arrangement of the absorber as a whole may be looked upon as one embodying a plurality of spacedperforatedfplates, alternate spaces between plates being froth chambers and the remaining spaces between Aplates being chambers in which thev frothis brokenV up and the liquid oil fed downwardly to the next froth chamber below.A Or,` the perforated plates may be said' to function in pairs, without necessarily being structurally associatedtogether in pairs. The plates` of each pair .enclose the vfrothchamber; the chambersbetween pairs or ythose in which the frothk is broken up. Considering the'inven tion in this light, it will be seen that it is 1 `not in itsbroader aspects to be limited by the typical structural details/.herein explained, although in practical use these structural `details may ,usuallybe used. Y y

Y In Fig. 4 I have. shown a fragment of a tower wherein certain variational characteristics are illustrated, the variations consist'- two plates to a floor, they spacing of vthe overflow pans above the -uppermost plate and the 'ingmainly of the provision of more than provision of operative apertures in said plate l ously described structure, are given similar reference numerals, but with the exponent a. Floor 13a is made up of uppermost plate 20ct, lowermost plate 21a and intermediate plate 51 the plates being spaced apart any suitable distance and forming upper froth chamber 52 and lower froth chamber 22a. The supporting and sealing of the plates, nipples, etc., may be accomplished in the manner described in connection with the other figures and it will-be understood l may y employ more than three spaced plates in making up each floor.

Overflow pans 26a, of which only one is shown in Fig. 4:, are similar to pans 26, but

are here shown as being spaced verticallyV above plate 20a by such means, for instance, as spacing` nuts 53 on bolts 43a, the latter serving to clamp the plate and nipple assembly together as described above.

It may here be stated that the feature of spacing the overflow pans above the uppermost plate is not limited in application tothe structure shown in Fig. 4, but may also be embodied in the structure of Figs. 2 and 3, as will Abe readily understood. It will also be understood that it is not essential to the three or more plate7 type of iioor that the overflow pans be spaced above the uppermost floor, but that in some situations l may rest the pans uponvthe uppermost plate in the manner illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3.

The assembly of pans, nipple 28a, tube 29a, spacing nipples 42a, etc., may be similar to that described connection with corresponding parts of the other figures.

`With the overiow pans spaced above plate 20a, it is preferable that apertures 35a be provided directly beneath the pans, as illustrated. The connection of tube 29a with the floor below, is the same as previously described in connection with tube 29.

The operation ofthe variational structure shown in Fig, l is generally similar to that described in connection with the other figures, except that the froth from chamber 22a is forced through the apertures in plate 5l before it passes through chamber 52 and.

the apertures in plate 20a, insuring a thorough admixture of the gas and oil.

I claimz- A l. The method of causing intimate contact between a gas and a liquid, that includes forming a froth of the gas and liquid at anyl certain pressure, and then breaking the froth films into fine particles in an atmosphere of the gas at a comparatively less pressure, there being a relatively abrupt pressure change between the pressure at which the froth is formed and the vpressure of the gaseous atmosphere in which the froth is broken up.

2. The method of causing intimate-contact between a gas and a liquid,`that includes forming a froth ofthe gas and liquid atva certain pressure, and then allowing the froth Vto expand inatmosphere of the gas' at a comparatively less pressure, there. being a relatively labrupt pressure change between the pressure at which the froth is formed and the pressure of the gaseous latmosphere in `which the froth is allowed to expand;

3.'The method of bringing liquid and gas into intimate Contact, that includes continuously forming and maintaining a body of froth,`the froth being formed by the introduction of 'both liquid and gas or vapor in intimate contact at the lower part ofthe froth body, forcingthefroth thus formed upwardly through restrictedoriiices directly above the froth body, breaking and separating` the froth into liquid and gas at an upper point in the froth mass, and isolating the separated liquid from the froth mass.

4. The method of bringing liquid and gas or vaporinto intimate contact, that includes continuously forming and maintaining a body of froth, the froth being formed by the introduction of both liquid and gas or vapor in intimate contact at the lower part of the froth body, forcing'the froth thus formedl upwardly through restricted apertures, an continuously breaking up the froth and liberating the gas or vapor at the upper surface of the froth body at the same rate at which the froth is form-ed. i

5. The method of bringing liquid and gasl into intimate contact, that includes continudos ously building up a mass of froth of the gas and liquid by feeding the liquid in a thin layer to the bottom of the froth massand jetting the gas under pressure upwardly through the liquid layer, forcing the froth mass upwardly through a plurality of restricted orifices smaller than the froth bubbles and thereby rendering the froth mass uniformand homogeneous, breaking and separating the froth into liquid and gas at an upper point in the froth mass, and conducting the separated liquid downwardly through the froth mass. l Y

6. The method of bringing liquid and gas into intimate Contact, that includes continuously building up a mass of froth of the gas j and liquid by feeding the liquid in a thin layer to the bottom of the froth mass and jetting the gas under pressure upwardly through the liquid layer, forcing the froth mass upwardly throughv a plurality of re-V stricted vorifices smaller than the f froth bubbles and thereby rendering the froth mass uniform and homogeneous, and mechanically breaking up the froth and liberating the gas at the upper surface .of the froth body at thesame rate at which the froth is formed.

7. The method of bringing liquidand gas into intimate Contact, thatincludes forcing the liquid and vgas together through restricted Y apertures and building upa body of froth,

mechanically breaking the froth at the upper surface of the froth body whereby the froth 5 films are coalescedinto liquid, and separating the coalesced liquid from the froth body.

8. Th-e method of lbringing liquid and gas into intimate Contact, that includes forcing the liquid and gas together through restricted '1D apertures and building up a body of froth, mechanically breaking the froth at the upper surface of the froth body whereby the froth films are coalesced into liquid, andV conducting the coalesced liquid downwardly through 75 the froth body.'

' In witness thatV I claim the foregoingl have hereunto subscribedmy name this 24th` dayv of January, 1930.

' JULIAN A. CAMPBELL. 

